Electrical cable assemblies can be used to electrically connect one electrical component to another electrical component. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, an electrical cable assembly 10 can include a substrate 12, such as a printed circuit board 14, a set of electrical cables 16 that includes a plurality of electrical cables 18 configured to be mounted to the substrate 12 so as to be placed in electrical communication with respective electrically conductive traces of the substrate 12. The substrate 12 includes a substrate body 20 that defines a pair of opposed surfaces, for instance an upper surface 20a and an opposed lower surface 20b that is spaced from the upper surface 20a along a transverse direction T. The substrate body 20 can further define a rear end 20c configured to mate with a complementary electrical component and an opposed front end 20d that is spaced from the rear end 20c along a longitudinal direction L that is substantially perpendicular to the transverse direction T. The substrate body 20 can further define opposed sides 20e that are spaced from each other along a lateral direction A that is substantially perpendicular to both the transverse and longitudinal directions T and L, respectively.
Still referring to FIG. 1A, at least one or both of the upper and lower surfaces 20a and 20b, respectively, can support respective pluralities of electrical contact pads 22. The contact pads 22 can be configured to electrically connect to respective ones of the electrical cables 18. The contact pads 22 can be in electrical communication with one or more electrical traces carried by or located in substrate body 20, and can thus be in electrical communication with complementary contact pads of the substrate 12. Accordingly, cables 18 mounted to the contact pads 22 can be placed into electrical communication with the complementary contact pads, and thus can be placed in electrical communication with a complementary electrical component that is mated with the complementary contact pads. In particular, proximal ends 24 of the cables 18 can define mounting ends that are mounted to respective ones of the contact pads 22.
In accordance with the illustrated example, the contact pads 22 are supported by the lower surface 20b of the substrate 12. Each of the contact pads 22 can be spaced from each other along the lateral direction A and can be disposed proximate to the front end 20d. The contact pads 22 may include a plurality of signal contact pads 22a and a plurality of ground contact pads 22b. Signal contact pads 22a and ground contact pads 22b can be arranged in a row R1. Within row R1, signal contact pads 22a and ground contact pads 22b may be in a repeating signal-signal-ground pattern, a ground-signal-signal pattern, or a signal-ground-signal pattern. Signal contact pads 22a and ground contact pads 22b can also be arranged in a repeating signal-signal-ground-ground pattern, a ground-signal-signal-ground pattern (FIG. 1A), or a signal-ground-signal-ground pattern.
With continuing reference to FIG. 1A, the substrate 12 can include at least one common ground element, such as ground element 26. As illustrated, the common ground element 26 can be an electrical layer(s) that is carried on the lower surface 20b of the substrate body 20. The ground elements 26 can be electrically isolated from the contact pads 22. In accordance with the illustrated example, the ground element 26 can be disposed at a location that is closer to the front end 20d along the longitudinal direction L than the contact pads 22. The ground contact pads 22b can be commoned to the ground member 26 by one or more electrical traces carried on the surfaces 20b of the substrate body 20 or layers located in the substrate body 20 between surfaces 20a and 20b. 
Referring to FIGS. 1A-C, the cables 18 can each include at least one conductor 28, such as a pair of signal carrying conductors 28a, and an electrically insulative signal layer 30 that surrounds at least a portion of each of the signal carrying conductors 28a. Each of the cables 18 can further include an electrically conductive ground jacket 32 that surrounds the respective insulated layer 30 of the signal carrying conductors 28a. The ground jacket 32 may be configured to be electrically connected to a respective ground plane of a complementary electrical component to which the cable 18 is mounted. For instance, the ground jacket 32 of a respective cable 18 may be configured to be placed into contact with a ground element 26 of the substrate 12, such that the ground jacket 32 of the respective cable 18 is connected to the ground plane of the substrate 12 via the ground element 26. In this regard, the ground jacket 32 can provide an electrical path to ground, or ground path from the ground jacket 32 of the respective cable 18 to the respective ground plane of the complementary electrical component. Each of the cables 18 can further include an outer layer 34 that is electrically insulative and surrounds the respective ground jacket 32. For instance, insulative layer 30 can be disposed within insulative layer 34. The insulative layers 30 and 34 can be spaced apart from each other along the lateral direction A. The insulative layers 30 and 34 can be constructed of any suitable dielectric material, such as plastic. The conductors 28 can be constructed of any suitable electrically conductive material, such as copper.
The cables 18 may further include at least one ground conductor, such as drain wires 28b, in addition to signal conductors 28a. The drain wires 28b can be used in combination with the ground jacket 30 or by themselves. The drain wires 28b can be surrounded by the outer layer 34. A drain wire 28b may also be surrounded by the ground jacket 32, when a ground jacket is present.
The cables 18 can be configured to mount to the contact pads 22, for instance at their respective proximal ends 24. Thus, the cables 18 can be in electrical communication with the respective complementary contact pads 22. Each of the cables 18 can be mounted to the substrate 12 in a variety of ways. For instance, a portion of the insulative layers 30 and 34 and the ground jacket 32 of each cable 18 can be removed from the respective conductor 28 at the proximal end 24 so as to expose the conductors 28. Alternatively, the cable 18 can be manufactured such that the conductors 28 extend longitudinally out from the insulating layers 30 and 34 and the ground jacket 32 so as to expose the conductors 28. The exposed conductors 28 can be mounted to respective contact pads 22 at the proximal end 24, for instance by soldering the conductors 28 to the contact pad 22. For instance, signal carrying conductors 28a can define signal mounting portions 36a that are exposed such that the mounting portions 36a extend from an insulative layer along the longitudinal direction L and terminate at the proximal end 24. The signal mounting portions 36a can be mounted to signal contact pads 22a. Similarly, drain wires 28b can define drain mounting portions 36b that are exposed such that the mounting portions 36b extend from an insulative layer along the longitudinal direction L and terminate at the respective proximal end 24. The mounting portions 36b of the drain wires 28b can be mounted to ground contact pads 22b. 
Referring to FIG. 1B, the illustrated cables 18 can have an American wire gauge (AWG) of 30. The illustrated signal conductors 28a in the 30 AWG cable have a diameter D1 of about 0.25 mm and the illustrated drain wires 28b have a diameter of 0.2 mm. Referring to FIG. 1C, the illustrated cables 18 can have an AWG of 26. Thus, the illustrated signal conductors 28a in the 26 AWG cable shown in FIG. 1C have a diameter D2 of 0.4 mm and the illustrated drain wires 28b have a diameter of 0.2 mm.
In connecting high speed signal cables to a substrate, insulating layers of the cable may be removed thereby exposing signal conducts. These exposed signal conductors may result in electromagnetic interference, such as cross talk. Mitigating such electromagnetic interference is desirable.